Indonesia rejects intervention over schools’ alleged links with Gulen

Horizon International School, Indonesia
Horizon International School, Indonesia


Date posted: July 29, 2016

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Indonesia rejects any intervention with the country’s internal affairs including over alleged links of a number of Indonesian Islamic boarding schools with Fethullah Gulen, a popular imam, accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a recent failed coup attempt in that country.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said here on Friday Indonesia is a democratic country that consistently adopts active and independent policy.

Fethullah Gulen is a popular Turkish imam, the founder of the Islamic Transnational Religious and Social Movement, now living in the United States.

He was repeatedly accused by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the recent failed coup attempt by a faction of the Turkish military.

On Thursday (July 28) the Turkish embassy issued a news release asking the Indonesian government to close all schools having links with Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

The release gave a list of 9 schools allegedly having links with the Gulen movement including 1. Pribadi Bilingual Boarding School of Depok, 2. Pribadi Bilingual Boarding School of Bandung, 3. Kharisma Bangsa Bilingual School in South Tangerang, 4. Semesta Bangsa Bilingual Boarding School in Semarang, 5. Kesatuan Bangsa Bilingual Boarding School in Yogyakarta, 6. Sragen Bilingual Boarding School in Sragen, 7. Fatih Boys Shool in Aceh, 8. Fatih Girls School in Aceh, 9. Banua Bilingual Boarding School in South Kalimantan.

Earlier on Friday Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Saifuddin said the Indonesian Government is still studying the request.

He said the Religious Affairs Ministry wants to know if the Turkish government referred to public schools or Islamic schools having any links with Gulen.

“If what they referred to is Islamic schools, it would be for the Religious Affairs Ministry to answer, but otherwise it would be for the Ministry of Education to answer,” he said.

After studying the request the Indonesia government would officially send its answer via the Turkish embassy here, the minister said.

However, Pramono said until now there has been no official request from the Turkish government as said in the news release issued by the embassy.(*)

Source: Antara News , July 29, 2016


Related News

Daily Trust Editorial: In Turkey, fresh affront on democracy

The AKP government, under emergency rule, has taken over hundreds companies, seized the assets of businessmen and shut down institutions linked to the movement. Despite the fact that Gülen denied the accusation and called for an international investigation into the coup attempt, President Erdoğan – calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” – and the Turkish government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement.

Exiled Turkish Leader Gulen Slams Erdogan for Coup Attempt in Report

A coup attempt in Turkey last July that killed more than 300 people was an “outrageous, heinous scenario constructed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his accomplices,” Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen said this week.

Turkish schools

About 15 years ago, I attended an international academic conference in a state located within the former Soviet geography. These conferences give us the chance to make on-the-spot observations about changes around the world. There were two Turkish high schools in the city: a state school, run by the Turkish Republic under bilateral agreements, and a private school run by Turkish entrepreneurs inspired by the ideas of well-respected Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. I visited both and talked to students and teachers.

Who was behind the Turkish Coup: Sufi Islamic Scholar Fathullah Gülen or the Regime itself?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has bluntly blamed it on the Hizmet movement, Gülen’s initiative for intercultural and interfaith dialogue and education in the country expanding across the world today. But for many immensely impressed by Gülen’s global humanitarian, social and Islam-based peace activism, it remains an obscure question as to how the former ally of his country is now blamed for the coup.

Dutch government calls on Turkish community to report threats by supporters of Turkish President Erdogan

The government is calling on Turkish-Dutch citizens to report if they are threatened by supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs wrote in a letter to parliament on Thursday, NU.nl reports.

TUSKON foreign trade summit opens Central Asia’s doors

ABDULHAMİT YILDIZ, İSTANBUL The trade summits organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) are a good way to establish new business contacts between entrepreneurs, thus creating new investment opportunities for businessmen. Hatemoğlu, a leading textile company, for instance, found a Kyrgyz distributor during the first edition of the Turkey-Eurasia trade summit last […]

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Wiretapped recordings erased on orders of new police chief

Gulen-linked RI schools remain calm amid coup in Indonesia

Over 30 Turkish diplomats, families seek asylum in Germany

Students from 140 countries to participate in Turkish Olympiads this year

I support Turkish schools with all my heart

Fears for Gulen-inspired Turkish schools in Pakistan grow

India must understand Erdogan’s ideological motives for seeking extradition of Gülenists

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News